Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 352 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 986,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $264,929,000 after acquiring an additional 41,605 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,789,000 after acquiring an additional 48,951 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,000. The trade was a 21.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,746 shares of company stock worth $8,560,594 over the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE:ROK opened at $294.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $273.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.67. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.